Spanish cuisine... so much more than just tapas

Spanish cuisine is at the forefront of innovation — and London has some of the best, says  Andrew Neather
P87 Iberica Pic: Danny Elwes
Danny Elwes
25 February 2014

Heston Blumenthal may be downcast over The Fat Duck’s slide in this year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list but his loss is Joan Roca’s gain. Roca and his brothers’ wildly inventive takes on traditional Catalan food (charcoal-grilled king prawn with king-prawn “sand”, ink “rocks” and fried legs? Cherry soup with smoked eel?) have propelled Girona restaurant El Celler de Can Roca to the top spot.

It is the latest triumph for Spain’s “nueva cocina”, bringing highly elaborate treatments to traditional Spanish ingredients. Ferran Adrià’s Catalan restaurant El Bulli, its most famous exponent, closed in 2011, but his influence lives on: Spain took not only the top spot in this week’s list but three in the top 10 (and five in the top 50).

When it comes to innovation, Spanish chefs have set the pace for a decade: the French, especially, look lazy by comparison. In Barcelona alone over the past couple of years I’ve been left almost dazed by the intense flavours and bold ideas at the Adrià brothers’ tapas restaurant, Tickets (Ferran’s brother Albert is in the kitchen), at Jordi Artal’s Cinc Sentits and Carles Abellan’s Comerç24.

“Ferran Adrià gave us freedom to think,” says Nacho Manzano, chef of the two-Michelin-starred Casa Marcial restaurant in Asturias and executive chef of London’s Ibérica — though his generation has now moved on in new directions.

“There’s just so much creativity,” says José Pizarro, chef-patron of Bermondsey restaurant José. He puts it down to hard work and a willingness to try new methods.

It’s an energy that Pizarro, Manzano and others have brought to London to lead a Spanish restaurant boom. The past few years have seen new highs for the quality and authenticity of the capital’s Spanish food. One of this year’s most feverishly awaited openings was Ametsa, at the Halkin Hotel, a first foreign outpost for Basque chefs Juan Mari Arzak and daughter Elena. (The Arzaks’ eponymous restaurant is number eight in the top 50; Ametsa’s reviews have been sadly disappointing.)

Ibérica’s managing director Marcos Fernandez says it’s still a challenge to get Londoners to see Spanish food as more than tapas — and to accept the cost of high-quality ingredients. But there is an appetite fuelled by travel to Spain.

“The British want to try new things and learn,” says Pizarro. “Last week I put lambs’ trotters on the menu and we sold out.” That’s a spirit of adventure Ferran Adrià would applaud.

London’s best Spanish restaurants

José

Tapas doesn’t get much fresher than at José Pizarro’s tiny, packed eaterie. Also runs Pizarro down the road at 194.

104 Bermondsey Street, SE1, josepizarro.com

Ibérica

Nacho Manzano’s menu pushes boundaries — though there are well-executed traditional tapas too.

195 Great Portland Street, W1, and 12 Cabot Square, E14, ibericalondon.co.uk

Barrafina

Incredibly fresh, authentic tapas, served at a 23-seat bar: prepare to queue.

54 Frith Street, W1, barrafina.co.uk

Cambio de Tercio

Flying the flag for serious, modern Spanish food: slick and innovative.

163 Old Brompton Road, SW5, cambiodetercio.co.uk

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